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I think that 3.5mm jack is a source of many repair issues for Apple. - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. - most male connectors are manufactu

I think that 3.5mm jack is a source of many repair issues for Apple. - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. - most male connectors are manufactured with low precision, which causes added stress to the socket. - some male connectors are long, creating a lot of leverage if force is applied in the wrong direction. - water gets in easily through the socket. - the socket is very fat and forces the phone to be thicker than it would otherwise need to be. Other connector designs are superior for all these reasons. The main issue is that Apple doesn't let other companies clone its connectors, so everyone has to pay exorbitant prices.

dijit 11y ago
You know what, I ranted below, but I agree with you. I suppose it depends on if the adapter type is an open standard, or even a royalty free patent. I don't really want to be relegated to wireless headphones, but if they licensed another connector type freely then android and other laptops could use the standard and that would be pretty cool. 3.5mm would just be "the old standard", and I'm ok with that, as long as we transition to something everyone agrees on, or is objectively better.
darkr 11y ago
> - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. I find this issue with the lightning connector; around once every 6 months I have to take a drawing pin and clear out the dirt (it is often mounted on the handlebar of my bike) and other crap that gets in there so it will charge again. I've never had an issue with the 3.5mm jack.
legulere 11y ago
Don't forget that loose contact is a problem that's extremely common with the 3.5 mm jack. Unknown to most there's another standardized connector that supports analog audio: USB-C. If they switched to USB-C on their iOS devices I wouldn't really mind.
scurvy 11y ago
My phone with 3.5mm jack is completely waterproof. Why can't Apple do the same?
oxplot 11y ago
These seem to be good reasons for the alleged move by Apple. My personal experience has always been horrible with 3.5mm jack especially on the connector side. My Android phone is already huge and it almost sticks out of my pocket. Add the height of a headphone connector to it (some are huge) and you have to be surgical when taking the phone out of your pocket and putting it back in. I'm actually looking forward to a well built, long lasting, high quality audio bluetooth adapter that I can plug my headphones to. I won't mind recharging the adapter and considering that Android 6 phones can charge other devices, this isn't as bad as it sounds.
saurik 11y ago
Wow. You have almost convinced me that it is actually correct for all of the ports on my computer to require a first-party adapter (as I have also dealt with too many low-quality USB, VGA, etc. plugs)... you have drastically increased the probability of my buying a MacBook.

dijit 11y ago

You know what, I ranted below, but I agree with you. I suppose it depends on if the adapter type is an open standard, or even a royalty free patent. I don't really want to be relegated to wireless headphones, but if they licensed another connector type freely then android and other laptops could use the standard and that would be pretty cool. 3.5mm would just be "the old standard", and I'm ok with that, as long as we transition to something everyone agrees on, or is objectively better.

darkr 11y ago

> - pocket lint routinely finds its way into the jack. I find this issue with the lightning connector; around once every 6 months I have to take a drawing pin and clear out the dirt (it is often mounted on the handlebar of my bike) and other crap that gets in there so it will charge again. I've never had an issue with the 3.5mm jack.

legulere 11y ago

Don't forget that loose contact is a problem that's extremely common with the 3.5 mm jack. Unknown to most there's another standardized connector that supports analog audio: USB-C. If they switched to USB-C on their iOS devices I wouldn't really mind.

scurvy 11y ago

My phone with 3.5mm jack is completely waterproof. Why can't Apple do the same?

oxplot 11y ago

These seem to be good reasons for the alleged move by Apple. My personal experience has always been horrible with 3.5mm jack especially on the connector side. My Android phone is already huge and it almost sticks out of my pocket. Add the height of a headphone connector to it (some are huge) and you have to be surgical when taking the phone out of your pocket and putting it back in. I'm actually looking forward to a well built, long lasting, high quality audio bluetooth adapter that I can plug my headphones to. I won't mind recharging the adapter and considering that Android 6 phones can charge other devices, this isn't as bad as it sounds.

saurik 11y ago

Wow. You have almost convinced me that it is actually correct for all of the ports on my computer to require a first-party adapter (as I have also dealt with too many low-quality USB, VGA, etc. plugs)... you have drastically increased the probability of my buying a MacBook.